Recaps

Greg checked on the injured Victoria, reassured her after her loss to Lilith, and then went to meet Ellie Hill at the city clock tower. Ellie greeted him with a smile and threatened to kill him if he arrived late again.

• Greg questioned the injured Yelina and secured her promise to keep what she had heard secret.
• Greg found Victoria in the hospital hallway and told her he did not blame her for losing to Lilith.
• Victoria felt her doubts ease slightly as Greg left to pursue his real objective.
• Greg crossed the city and climbed the hidden maintenance stairs to the top of the City Clock Tower.
• Ellie Hill greeted Greg at the tower and warned that she would kill him if he was late again.

Greg reunited with Ellie at the bell tower, where her threats gave way to a rare admission that she had worried about him. He failed to persuade her to leave and live independently, and the chapter ended with Greg asking whether she had enough savings to support them.

• Greg met Ellie at the bell tower, and she scolded him for being late and appearing in ragged clothes.
• Greg saw the worry in Ellie's eyes as she told him not to disappear on her again.
• Greg asked Ellie to pursue her own life now that she was no longer his maid, but she said she was already living the life she wanted by staying with him.
• Greg gave up trying to persuade Ellie to leave and warned her that he could not pay her while he struggled to survive in the Dungeon.
• Greg noticed Ellie's purse and asked whether she had savings.

Greg borrowed three gold coins from Ellie to buy supplies for the Dungeon and told her he intended to grow stronger. Ellie doubted his sudden ambition but sensed that he had changed, and his wish not to stand behind her left her blushing.

• Greg asked Ellie to lend him money, and she reluctantly gave him three gold coins.
• Greg rejoiced over the coins and said he planned to take conquering the Dungeon seriously.
• Ellie questioned where Greg had been, and he explained that he wanted to get stronger and prove himself.
• Greg told Ellie he did not want to stand behind her forever, and Ellie felt her cheeks warm.

Greg used his dark-attribute power to absorb a falling bronze bell before it could crush him, then told Ellie that the Goddess of Night, Nightmare, had chosen him as her emissary. Ellie was left stunned by his revelation and the mysterious power he had displayed.

• Greg wondered how to keep Ellie occupied while he attended the Academy, when the city's enormous bronze bell broke loose above them.
• Ellie realized she could not reach Greg in time to save him from the falling bell.
• Greg instinctively activated his LV1 Dark Bracer, and its black mist swallowed the bell without a trace.
• Ellie questioned Greg about the bracers and the strange power that had erased the bell.
• Greg told Ellie that the ancient Goddess of Night, Nightmare, had chosen him and made him her emissary.

Greg asked Ellie to establish a religious order worshipping Nightmare so the goddess could regain strength and help him change his fate. Ellie agreed to try, then stayed alone on the bell tower, resolved not to abandon Greg.

• Greg asked Ellie to help establish a religious order devoted to the dark night.
• Greg explained that restoring faith in Nightmare could strengthen the goddess and possibly grant him divine protection.
• Ellie agreed to try, though she warned Greg not to expect too much.
• Greg explained his plans to Ellie, then left the bell tower for the Dungeon.
• Ellie recalled her years with Greg and resolved to remain by his side.

Greg set up a protective tent in the Dungeon and discussed the mystery of why Ellie remained loyal to him, then prepared to scout the shallow levels. With Victoria injured and the story’s threats potentially arriving sooner, he decided he could not wait for her recovery.

• Greg finished assembling a sturdy tent, and Nightmare claimed its softest spot without helping.
• Nightmare asked why Ellie, a twenty-seven-year-old LV68 genius, followed Greg, but he admitted he did not know.
• Greg recalled that Ellie had stayed with his original-game counterpart through every route and ending, despite the game never explaining her loyalty.
• Greg woke at four in the afternoon, found Nightmare gone, and realized he needed to hunt soon to replenish his food.
• Greg considered the goblins near the passage to the middle levels and worried that Victoria’s injuries and the Wandering Evil Spirit’s early appearance might accelerate upcoming dangers.
• Greg gathered his tools and left the tent to scout the Dungeon’s shallow levels.

Greg cleared weak monsters in the shallow region, gaining experience and raising the proficiency of his mostly useless skills. Near the entrance to the middle region, he found goblins blocking the way and wondered why they had come there.

• Greg killed several low-level monsters and reached level 17.
• Greg examined Boohoohoo LV4 and Burrowing LV2, dismissing both as largely useless.
• Greg reached the junction leading to the middle region and spotted tough-looking goblins nearby.
• Greg wondered whether the goblins were blocking adventurers or had been driven up from below by some event.

Greg learned that an unnatural noise from the middle levels had driven goblins to block the route, and he suspected the three upperclassmen were responsible. At the hospital, Victoria recovered her fighting spirit and revealed that someone had helped her move past her defeat.

• Nightmare told Greg that she heard a regular, foreign noise coming from the middle levels, and Greg suspected the three upperclassmen had caused it.
• Greg realized the goblins blocked the route deeper into the Dungeon and decided to find help before investigating.
• Sylvia told Victoria about Class A, Lilith, and their homeroom teacher, Professor Grace Quinn.
• Victoria said she would challenge Lilith again after leaving the hospital, and Sylvia embraced her with relief.
• Victoria apologized for worrying Sylvia and admitted that she had not recovered entirely on her own.

Victoria admitted that Greg’s advice had helped her recover her resolve, while Sylvia’s growing affection for him was briefly unsettled by his late-night visit. Greg arrived at the ward battered and asked Victoria and Sylvia to help clear the Dungeon’s first floor, citing unusual signs and three missing upperclassmen.

• Victoria told Sylvia that Greg had visited after curfew and encouraged her not to give up after one defeat.
• Sylvia grew more trusting of Greg, then felt a faint unease when she realized he had visited Victoria late at night.
• Greg climbed through the ward’s window, injured and exhausted, and dodged questions about how he had been hurt.
• Victoria recognized that Greg had come with a request, and he asked her and Sylvia to help clear the Dungeon’s first floor.
• Greg said the Dungeon had shown unusual signs and that three upperclassmen who entered earlier had not returned.

Greg persuaded Victoria that he and Sylvia needed to investigate Dungeon abnormalities and search for three missing upperclassmen, then hurried Sylvia out that night. On the way, he claimed they had used the hospital window to keep their private contact secret, leaving Sylvia to wonder if he wanted distance from commoners like her.

• Greg told Victoria and Sylvia that Dungeon abnormalities might have trapped three upperclassmen and urged an immediate investigation.
• Victoria stayed behind because she was still recovering and entrusted Sylvia's safety to Greg.
• Sylvia agreed to go with Greg, and they climbed out of the hospital window before heading toward the Dungeon.
• Sylvia asked why they had avoided the main entrance, and Greg said he wanted to keep their private contact secret.
• Sylvia wondered if Greg was reluctant to get close to commoners like her.

Greg and Sylvia avoided girls searching near the Dungeon entrance, and Sylvia began to enjoy the forbidden adventure. Meanwhile, a blonde girl learned that contact had been lost with people in the deeper reaches of the Dungeon’s first floor.

• Greg pulled Sylvia into the shadows to avoid being seen by girls searching near the Dungeon path.
• Greg and Sylvia took a winding route toward the Dungeon entrance, hiding as the girls passed.
• Sylvia felt increasingly excited by sneaking around with Greg and discovered a taste for breaking rules.
• A maid told the blonde girl that a male intruder had escaped the girls’ dormitory and that a search was underway.
• The maid reported that all contact had been lost with people in the deeper reaches of the first floor, and the blonde girl’s quill stopped.

Catherine Roman, an illegitimate daughter of the Roman Merchant Association’s chairman, pursued the heir position to survive in a hostile family. She arranged a risky Dungeon test of a secret magitech device, and the testers’ disappearance left her without data.

• Catherine recalled that her powerful older siblings threatened her survival and that she had little chance of inheriting the association.
• She described how years of competing in the Roman Merchant Association had taught her to value self-interest over affection or loyalty.
• Catherine secretly funded a workshop to develop a prototype monster-repelling device and needed real Dungeon test results.
• She hired three indebted upper-year students through a fictitious company, disclosed the device’s dangers in their contract, and paid them to test it.
• The three testers vanished without returning any information, so Catherine decided she would need to recruit another group.
• The account contrasted Catherine with other dangerous heroines, including Lilith Kahn, whose possessiveness could emerge during her romance route.

Catherine Roman refused to involve the Academy in the disappearance of three Dungeon testers, determined to keep her secret magical device hidden. Meanwhile, Greg and Sylvia entered the Dungeon passage, where Nightmare sensed a strange scent on Sylvia that she said belonged to a bitch.

• Catherine rejected her maid's suggestion to alert the Academy about the three missing testers, fearing an investigation would expose her secret plans.
• Catherine ordered her maid to find another group of testers after the uproar at the Academy had subsided.
• Greg and Nightmare argued about what to call Greg before he asked what strange smell Nightmare had sensed.
• Nightmare told Greg the scent came from Sylvia, who was walking beside him through the Dungeon passage.
• Nightmare said Sylvia carried a scent belonging to a bitch, leaving Greg startled and incredulous.

As Greg left the Dungeon, Nightmare revealed that the Goddess of Light, Seraphina, disguised her real appearance and challenged Greg to provoke her. Greg learned that Nightmare and Seraphina were bitter enemies, then rejected Nightmare’s scheme to use the girl ahead to summon Seraphina.

• Greg asked Nightmare about the scent she had detected, and Nightmare explained that it belonged to Seraphina, not the girl.
• Nightmare claimed Seraphina’s famous figure was a disguise and offered to prove it by having Greg insult her aloud.
• Greg considered summoning Seraphina for a blessing, but Nightmare said she and Seraphina would not rest until one of them was dead.
• Nightmare suggested Greg make the girl fall in love with him and insult Seraphina when her connection to the goddess was most vulnerable.
• Greg called Nightmare a devil after hearing her plan.

Greg and Sylvia fought their way through a Goblin group guarding the passage to the middle floors, with Greg’s dark magic and Sylvia’s support giving them the advantage. The battle left them facing a Goblin shaman who had crept around to target Sylvia.

• Greg and Sylvia spotted about a dozen Goblin warriors gathered at the entrance to the middle floors, and Greg told Sylvia to support him from behind.
• Sylvia cast strength and agility enhancements on Greg, who ambushed two Goblins with Dark Bracer and killed them quickly.
• The remaining Goblins attacked, but Sylvia blocked an arrow while Greg charged into their ranks and cut them down.
• Sylvia renewed Greg’s buffs and used Holy Light Bullet to disrupt Goblins as Greg overwhelmed them with his dark magic.
• A Goblin shaman circled behind the pair and aimed its bone staff at Sylvia while chanting.

Greg used Dark Wave to kill the Goblin shaman just before its spell struck Sylvia, then helped her up. Sylvia asked Greg if he had caused the shaman's sudden death.

• The Goblin shaman prepared to attack Sylvia, and Greg unleashed his newly acquired Dark Wave despite not knowing what it would do.
• Dark Wave passed through the shaman's staff and afflicted it with numerous debilitating effects, causing its spell to vanish and the shaman to die.
• Sylvia watched the shaman fall and realized Greg had saved her.
• Greg finished off the remaining Goblin warriors and hurried to check on Sylvia.
• Greg apologized for letting Sylvia face danger, and Sylvia clarified that she was curious whether he had killed the shaman.

After Greg killed the Goblin shaman and saved Sylvia, he promised to watch over her as they continued toward the middle region. Sylvia’s admiration turned into confused disappointment when she learned he had made that promise to Victoria, while the monsters’ arrival from deeper areas left Greg wary of what lay ahead.

• Greg admitted that his Dark Wave had killed the Goblin shaman and realized he needed to do more to protect Sylvia.
• Sylvia admired Greg for defeating the Goblins and saving her, and developed feelings she struggled to name.
• Greg concluded that the shaman’s presence in the shallow region signaled an unusual disturbance deeper in the Dungeon.
• Greg promised to pay closer attention to Sylvia, explaining that he had promised Victoria to keep her safe.
• Sylvia felt disappointed that Greg’s concern stemmed from his promise to Victoria, but agreed to follow him toward the middle region.

After battling goblins, Greg reached a rare safe passage and discovered that his new skill increased his chance of impregnating females. Nightmare then revealed that she had been silent because Greg used Dark Bracer and Dark Wave, spells whose highest-tier mastery should be limited to one per lifetime.

• Greg entered a safe passage, checked his system notifications, and learned that he had reached level 21 and gained Sowing LV2.
• Greg read that Sowing increased his chance of impregnating a female by sixty percent, then angrily decided to ignore the skill.
• Greg noticed that Sylvia and Nightmare were unusually quiet and asked Nightmare why she had stopped speaking.
• Nightmare explained that she had noticed Greg using Dark Bracer and Dark Wave during the battle.
• Nightmare recalled that highest-tier spells could reach LV9, but the world's laws supposedly prevented anyone from mastering more than one in a lifetime.

Nightmare questioned Greg's unexplained mastery of two opposing ultimate dark spells and wondered whether his soul shared a past connection with her. After Greg and Sylvia entered the Dungeon's middle region, its eerie silence led him to suspect that a Screech device was driving the Monsters away.

• Nightmare reflected that Greg's mastery of Dark Bracer and Dark Wave suggested an unknown connection between his soul and hers, despite her certainty that she had never had a lover or offspring.
• Nightmare asked Greg whether he had truly never seen her before, and Greg confirmed that he had not.
• Greg and Sylvia crossed the safe passage and entered the middle region of the Dungeon's first floor.
• Sylvia admired the region's glowing plants while Greg noticed the unusual lack of Monsters and signs of battle.
• Greg connected the silence to Nightmare's warning about noise from deeper in the Dungeon and recognized the likely cause as a Screech device.

Greg realized Catherine’s Magic Device had likely caused the Dungeon’s strange silence and the disappearance of three upperclassmen. He hoped to avoid them and reach the first floor’s boss room, but Sylvia insisted they search the deeper levels for the missing people.

• Greg recognized the monster-repelling Magic Device as the one tied to Catherine’s commission and suspected it had attracted dangerous monsters in the deeper levels.
• Greg concluded that Catherine had hired the three missing upperclassmen to test the device, and that they might not have escaped.
• Greg planned to pass through the quiet middle levels and head straight for the boss room while avoiding the testers and Catherine.
• Sylvia shook off her distraction, apologized to Greg, and urged him to search the deeper levels and rescue the missing upperclassmen.
• Greg silently regretted thinking Sylvia was a good girl when she pushed ahead with the dangerous rescue mission.

Evan, Leonard, and Lia fled through the Academy Dungeon’s deep region, hiding from a powerful monster as their injuries and dwindling strength left them close to despair. With their Magic Device and map lost, the three had no idea how to escape the monster-filled maze.

• Evan led Leonard and Lia into a thicket, where they hid as a towering monster paused nearby before moving on.
• After the monster left, Leonard blamed Evan for taking the dangerous commission, and Evan retorted that Leonard had agreed for the money.
• Lia stopped their argument and reminded them that they had lost their Magic Device and map and no longer knew where they were.
• Evan, Leonard, and Lia faced the likelihood of dying in the deep region, exhausted and unable to keep fighting.

Greg rescued Evan, Leonard, and Lia from three monsters using his Tentacle Bind skill while disguised as a masked wanderer. His claim to be a mysterious “Touch Rider” was undermined when Sylvia arrived and called him Senior Greg.

• The Spineback Lizard, Mossrock Golem, and Shadow Devourer cornered Evan, Leonard, and Lia as they hid in the bushes.
• Greg restrained all three monsters with dark-magic-coated branches and stepped out of the shadows wearing a wooden mask.
• Greg introduced himself as a passing Touch Rider, and Evan, Leonard, and Lia were baffled by the title.
• Greg reflected that his disguise was working and that the survivors would not connect him to Greg Sass.
• Sylvia hurried in after Greg and called him Senior Greg, exposing his identity to the survivors.

Lia recognized the masked fighter who had saved her, Evan, and Leonard as Greg Sass, despite their disbelief. Greg tried to keep his identity secret, but the three monsters broke free and attacked him, leaving him to fight them without using dark magic.

• Sylvia called the masked fighter Senior Greg, and Lia recognized his golden hair and build as Greg Sass.
• Evan and Leonard doubted that the powerful fighter could be the Greg they knew, while Lia accepted his identity.
• The Spineback Lizard, Mossrock Golem, and Shadow Devourer broke free from Greg’s wooden restraints.
• Sylvia cast support spells on Greg as he dodged the Spineback Lizard’s venom and prepared to fight without using dark magic.
• Greg took a fighting stance against the three monsters and said he had encountered them before.

Greg used his knowledge of the Monsters and his basic magic to defeat three Dungeon creatures while impressing Sylvia, Evan, and Leonard. His spells grew stronger during the fight, and the battle ended with the Shadow Devourer dissolving into smoke and leaving Shadow Crystals behind.

• Greg dodged the Spineback Lizard, struck its exposed throat with Water Gun, hit the Mossrock Golem's core with Fireball Spell, and interrupted the Shadow Devourer's Shadow Strike.
• Greg repeatedly evaded the Monsters and attacked their weaknesses, leaving Sylvia, Evan, and Leonard astonished by his skill.
• Greg's Water Gun proficiency increased to LV3 and his Fireball Spell proficiency increased to LV2, strengthening both spells.
• Greg killed the Spineback Lizard with an enhanced water arrow through its eye and destroyed the Mossrock Golem's core with a larger fireball.
• Greg had Sylvia fire a Holy Light Bullet, then trapped and defeated the fleeing Shadow Devourer with water arrows and a fireball, leaving Shadow Crystals behind.

After the battle, Greg confronted Sylvia for shouting his name and risking his secret identity, but her remorse quickly made him forgive her. He resolved to deal with the three upperclassmen later by warning them to keep quiet.

• Greg received the Intangibility LV1 skill after slaying the Shadow Devourer.
• Greg scolded Sylvia for revealing his name in front of the three upperclassmen.
• Sylvia apologized, and Greg softened and told her not to worry about it.
• Sylvia thanked Greg and promised to be more careful, while Greg privately berated himself for giving in to her cuteness.
• Greg decided to warn the three upperclassmen to keep his identity and the day's events secret.